County profile · official public datasets

Harrison County, MS

301 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 52.8% rated Good, 41.9% Fair, 5.3% Poor.

301
Public bridges: 52.8%
Good condition: 5.3%
Poor condition

The verdict

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.

Harrison County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

47th
of 82 on Poor share: 5.3%
Poor-condition share: 301
public highway bridges: 1986
avg year built

Poor is an FHWA condition category from the lowest applicable component rating (4 or below), not a live crossing-safety or closure decision. Rankings cover counties with at least five public highway bridges.

Harrison County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Harrison County ranks #47 of 82 Mississippi counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.3%). Harrison County, Mississippi contains 301 public highway bridges. Roughly 52.8% are rated “Good,” 41.9% “Fair,” and 5.3% “Poor.” Poor means the lowest applicable deck, superstructure, substructure, or culvert rating is 4 or below on the 0–9 NBI scale. It is a condition category, not a live safety or closure decision.

Responsible agencies inspect covered bridges on risk-based intervals under current NBIS rules and submit inventory data to FHWA annually. The list below shows every NBI-tracked bridge in the county. Use the “Sort by” controls to change the ordering, and click any row for its reported inspection date, traffic count, and condition fields.

Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory. See methodology for full definitions.

Total bridges

301

Public highway bridges in Harrison County

Good condition

52.8%

159 of 301 rated 7-9

Fair condition

41.9%

126 of 301 rated 5-6

Poor condition

5.3%

16 of 301 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#47 of 82

Among Mississippi counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better

Condition distribution

Share of 301 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

52.8% (159)

Fair

41.9% (126)

Poor

5.3% (16)

Harrison County's Poor-condition bridges carry 47,302 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,153 crossings a day against 11,673 for a Good-condition one. A Poor rating is a condition category, not a closure or a live safety judgement; it means the lowest applicable component rating is 4 or below.

Computed over the 300 of 301 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

34.6% of Harrison County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

104 of the 301 bridges with a recorded construction year were built in 1974 or earlier. Age alone is not a defect: a well-maintained older bridge can rate Good, and 52.8% of this county's inventory does. Even so, this older cohort is the population from which future Poor ratings are drawn, which is why the age profile below matters alongside the condition split above.

Cutoff derives from the 2024 release year minus a 50-year design life. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

One structure carries 38.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

POPPS FERRY ROAD over BACK BAY BILOXI, built 1979, carries 18,000 vehicles a day, the most of any Poor-rated structure here. The county's Poor-condition exposure is concentrated rather than evenly spread, so the 16-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 47,302 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1930s

1
1940s

2
1950s

17
1960s

55
1970s

48
1980s

37
1990s

58
2000s

59
2010s

16
2020s

8

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 59 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1986) matches the Mississippi average (1986).

How Harrison County compares with Mississippi's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Mississippi counties nearest Harrison County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.3% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1986 against a peer-group mean of 1984 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 81 Mississippi counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Harrison County and the 5 Mississippi counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Jones County	329	48.3%	44.1%	7.6%	1982
Washington County	317	34.7%	54.9%	10.4%	1984
Madison County	311	51.1%	45.7%	3.2%	1983
Harrison County (this page)	301	52.8%	41.9%	5.3%	1986
Monroe County	290	64.5%	31.4%	4.1%	1989
Forrest County	283	46.3%	49.5%	4.2%	1982

Each share is of that county's own total tracked bridges; peers are the counties with 5 or more bridges whose inventory size is closest to Harrison County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Two NBI-derived peer sets for Harrison County, both outside Mississippi so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MS (301 bridges here).

Madison County, IN · 301 bridges
Cedar County, IA · 301 bridges
Crawford County, IA · 301 bridges
Penobscot County, ME · 301 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MS (1986 here).

El Paso County, TX · avg 1986 · 783 bridges
Caddo County, LA · avg 1986 · 682 bridges
Weld County, CO · avg 1986 · 614 bridges
Polk County, IA · avg 1986 · 545 bridges

Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.

All 301 Good 159 Fair 126 Poor 16

All bridges (301)

Sort:

Harrison County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Harrison County's Poor-condition bridges carry 47,302 vehicle crossings a day

34.6% of Harrison County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 38.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Harrison County compares with Mississippi's closest counties by inventory size

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

All bridges (301)

DISCOVERY BAY DR

SAUCIER LIZANA RD

FAS-128 CABLE BRID

ORANGE GROVE RD

FAS 104

FAS139-LORRAINE RD

FAS 145 BETHEL RD.

FAS 139 LAMEY BRID

PETE HICKMAN ROAD

SR 15

FAS 128 CABLE BRID

HEWES AVENUE

FAS 145 BETHEL RD.

OLD HWY 15

FAS 1101

BELLS FERRY ROAD

FRED DIAMOND ROAD

FAS 2110 SAUCIER-L

FAS 109 LANDON RD

AIRPORT RD (EB)

AIRPORT RD (WB)

SAUCIER FAIRLEY RD

SAUCIER ADVANCE RD

SR 53

US 49

FAS 2109 CANAL RD.

BAYVIEW STREET

OLD HWY 15

WASHINGTON AVE

SR 53

FAS 1142 FIRETOWER

FAS 1144

US 49

ARCADIA FARM RD

FAS 104

FAS 145 BETHEL RD.

OLD HWY 49

FAS 145 BETHEL RD.

OAKLAWN RD EAST

RAILROAD STREET

FAS 145 BETHEL RD.

FAS 1138 WHITE PLA

PALMER CREEK ROAD

TORRIES ROAD

FAS 1138 WHITE PLA

HEWES AVENUE

28TH STREET

COMMISSION ROAD

MAHONEY ROAD

BAYVIEW AVENUE

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